Dear Pastors,
As you know, Lent is not so much about Baptism as Easter is. Therefore we have not included Baptism Homily Startersfor Lent. We will pick up with Easter through Pentecost. This will give you some time to organize some really great EVANGELIZATION TOOLS to greet and meet new parents that will be coming for Baptism during the Easter Seasonand to keep them as active members of your parish. Need ideas on how to do this? Call Sr. Francis James, OSF, Coordinator for Baptismal Training at 315.657.6430 at Family Life Education Office.
Peace and All Good and a blessed Lent, Sr Francis James
For a review of the book Families Apart: Ten Keys to Successful Co-Parenting, by Melinda Blau, click here
Resources
A Holistic Approach to Infant Baptism...
An Innovative Guide for Today's Catholic Parish
A Holistic Approach to Infant Baptism is a comprehensive manual prepared by the Family Life Education Office of the Diocese of Syracuse. It is an easy to use guide that will give you and your parish team simple, fresh ideas to energize parish life through the Sacrament of Baptism.
The manual contains practical resource materials, suggestions for homily starters, along with review of five pre-planned programs. It provides a wealth of information on the four critical components of baptism:
First Encounters
How to develop a network of people in the parish to welcome parents and offer them what they need from their church
Preparation Process
Examines the key components of great baptismal preparation with an emphasis on parents passing on the faith
The Rite of Baptism
An in depth review of the celebration of the sacrament with answers to frequently asked questions
Keeping the Faith Journey Going
Provides a guide to activities after baptism to support new parents and help them renew or strengthen their ties to the parish, plus a CD with a wealth of ready-to-use handouts
Some of the topics include:
- Understanding parents of today
- How to be a welcoming parish
- Forming a dynamic baptismal team
- Simple ways to enhance baptismal preparation
- Creative ideas for involving families in the rite
- Planning follow up activities for new parents
This manual includes "Homily Starters with a Baptismal Theme" for all 3 Scriptural Reading Cycles.
When baptisms are celebrated within Mass the homily is naturally based on the readings for Sunday and the homily is for the edification of the whole congregation.
Still, the church documents ask that reference also be made to baptism at this time and ideally that this reference be tied to the readings. To make this challenge easier, we have included "Homily Starters with a Baptismal Theme" in this manual.
Homily Starters with a Baptismal theme for immediate use:
Cycle B 3rd - 7th Sundays of Ordinary
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